NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexicans who rely on SNAP benefits are in limbo after the Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill included major cuts to the program. The cut could mean that over 457,000 New Mexicans could see lower benefit checks when they plan their visit to the grocery store. “That $180 a month that you always budget to food, that’s a chunk,” former SNAP recipient Olivia Garcia said. “So it was kinda scary.”
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Garcia is one of the nearly half a million New Mexicans who have been recently enrolled in the SNAP program. But she lost those benefits earlier this year when new work requirements went into effect. “When I was losing those SNAP benefits, I was like, maybe going back to school isn’t the right thing,” Garcia said. “Maybe this isn’t something I can do.”
Now, with the latest changes on the federal level, more New Mexicans could be in the same boat. According to preliminary numbers provided by the state, 21% of New Mexicans are enrolled in the SNAP program. “New Mexico has the highest per capita percentage of residents enrolled in SNAP in the country,” New Mexico HCA Deputy Cabinet Secretary Alex Castillo Smith said.
Each one of them could see lower benefits once this change takes effect. But the actual impact remains unclear. “It is possible that more than 20,000 New Mexicans could lose their SNAP benefits entirely in our preliminary estimate,” Castillo said.
Another SNAP program being cut is SNAP-Ed, which provides nutritional education, healthy eating options, and cooking recipes to SNAP recipients.
The changes, going into effect later this year, also increases work requirements for able-bodied adults on the program. Not including pregnant people, seniors, and disabled people.
The state estimates up to 60,000 residents will be subject to these new work requirements.
“We are still waiting for guidance from our Federal partners in Washington DC,” Castillo said. “So just because Congress has passed the bill doesn’t mean we can implement those changes. We have to wait for guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, for example, on how we operationalize these changes.”
The state is unclear on when the changes will take effect. But they think later on this calendar year. “I’m scared about what people will do when there’s not social benefits, if they just don’t have that option,” Garcia said. “There’s food drives, for instance. But at the end of the day, the reality is people are going to go hungry.”
“In the past year, we’ve had more than $1.2 billion of SNAP federal funding in our economy,” Castillo said. “This money supports more than 1,700 retailers across New Mexico.
According to the state, as of now, there have been no changes. They said they will keep their customers informed when there is official guidance from the federal government. “Investments that the federal government and state government have made in safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP have reduced child poverty in New Mexico from us being the worst in the nation down to 17th in the last year,” Castillo said. “These changes that Congress has passed will likely reverse this positive trend.
